Pillars of Humanity
by Liquor Chugging Knight
Summary: The Legend of Bon, as my friends would say. It's about a doughnut and the Shinigamis


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Disclaimer: No matter how many deities I pray to I won't own the damn thing.

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Pillars of Humanity

(a.k.a. The Legend of Bon, it's my friends name for it, don't ask me why)

By: Liquor Chugging Knight

Prologue

The doughnut lay on the middle of the desk. It lay innocently, on a common, white napkin. Flawless in every way imaginable, and delicious, despite of the lack of sweetness.

It was this that two people were glaring at. Not so much because they did not like the doughnut, quite the contrary actually, but because they were trying to ascertain just how much the doughnut was worth; whether it was worth an easy game of luck in tossing a coin, or an all-out war that wouldn't end until the doughnut was consumed.

In the red corner of the desk table sat Tsuzuki, his violet eyes narrowing into amber slits as he surveyed his opponent from across the table.

In the blue corner sat Hisoka.

Yes, Hisoka.

Hisoka, for some unknown reason, had taken an almost immediate liking of the said doughnut, maybe because they weren't as sweet as others were accustomed to.

It had all started innocently enough. Tsuzuki, as usual, came to work late, and because of this, much to his horror, the doughnut box lay empty except for one.

Hisoka's favorite.

So naturally, Tsuzuki was in a downright fix. He, as far as his hungry mind could tell, had two options:

1.) He should just ignore his grumbling stomach and tighten his belt, like a true martyr, or

2.) He should satisfy his hunger and sacrifice Hisoka's happiness, AND pretend he didn't eat it when Hisoka found out.

It was a matter of heart over mind. Or in this case, heart over stomach.

Unfortunately, his heart lost to his stomach, and he moved to eat the remaining doughnut. It was around this time that Hisoka went in and caught Tsuzuki red-, er, doughnut-handed.

Hell ensued.

So that brings us back to the present. The purple eyed Shinigami was not one to back down, yet neither was Hisoka. And their ceaseless struggling of wits descended into a primitive level, wherein they resorted to glaring at each other, daring the other to look away or blink.

Hisoka was in his prime, for he was, after all, the famous Shinigami with a death glare that could freeze the entire Pacific if he willed it. Tsuzuki, however, was less that adept to the glaring game and often shifted out of discomfort.

Suddenly, the doors to the office burst open and Watari ran in, grabbed the doughnut, and ran out.

"WATARI!!" Tsuzuki yelled, running out right after the oblivious scientist.

Hisoka was left alone, so he stood up, filled his mug with coffee and headed for his own desk.

**********

Tsuzuki ran around a corner and caught a glimpse of Watari's lab coat disappearing round the bend.

"Watari!" he yelled again, hoping against hope that there was at least still a few crumbs left of the doughnut.

He barreled down a corridor and skidded to a halt when he realized that he had already run past Watari's clinic. Backing up, he burst into the scientist's laboratory and rolled to his feet, his eyes roving, ready to tackle the scientist at first glance of the doughnut.

Then he saw Watari bent over a cylinder full of syrupy, bubbly liquid that was connected to a series of test tubes, heaters and the like. In his hand, Watari held the sought-after doughnut, poised and ready to be dunked into the suspicious looking goo.

Uh-oh.

It happened in a flash. Tsuzuki, seeing such a fine pastry hovering between life and death, jumped, reaching with all his might to knock Watari's hand away from the steaming cylinder, as the doughnut moved in slow motion towards the syrupy liquid.

"Noooooooooooooo!!!"

Tsuzuki's hand hit Watari's, knocking the doughnut out of the scientist's grasp, and Tsuzuki sighed in relief, before realization came too late and his momentum brought him crashing headlong into Watari's chemical set-up with a deafening crash.

Watari, who was caught in surprise, was thrown back against the wall as his test tubes, cylinders, glasses and concoctions exploded, and the whole room was enveloped in a bright light…

…before a second, more powerful explosion came, blowing a wall out of the building, hurtling Watari outside with it.

**********

The whole building shook, and Hisoka's desk trembled, sending his coffee splashing onto his desk and soaking the papers that he was working on into a dark, brownish mess. When the trembles stopped, Hisoka lifted his sodden papers up in disgust, as it trickled coffee back onto his desk. Moving his arm, he dropped the papers into the trashcan, where it hit the bottom of the bin with a definite 'splotch'.

He stood up with half a mind to refill his coffee mug, then stopped, and headed for Watari's lab. But on the way to the office door, his mind changed once more and he set his mug down, veering his course and heading for Tatsumi's office instead.

_Tatsumi was going to kill Watari._

It was more or less what he pictured in his mind if he didn't get to Tatsumi on time before the secretary murdered their local scientist, and though Tatsumi wouldn't have admitted it, they still _needed_ someone who was computer-literate, even if that certain someone was more like a liability than an asset.

When he got there, he was confronted with a very, very furious Tatsumi, who was fighting five Shinigamis, who were trying valiantly, though poorly, to restrain him. With an angry bellow that sounded very much like a rhino, he threw three of them off at once with a mad swing and started kicking at the remaining two who were clinging to his legs, catching one of them in the midriff. The unfortunate employee let out a very feeble wheeze, his eyes crossing, yet held stubbornly onto Tatsumi's pant leg with even greater resolve.

Hisoka wasn't sure what to do, but he knew that approaching Tatsumi (with smoke beginning to stream out of his ears) was the least of his options.

So he turned his back on Tatsumi, who started shouting obscenities, and headed back for his office. Yet as he sought for the comfort of his office, something was pulling at the back of his mind. Like it was trying to remind him of something. Something important. He stopped.

_Tsuzuki!_

His calm demeanor gone, he took off at a run, hoping against hope that he was wrong.

_He's safe. He's not in the lab. He must have gotten the doughnut from Watari and gone out of the lab before it exploded. Nothing happened._

**_Nothing._**

He didn't know why he was so worried. Even if Tsuzuki was in there, he wouldn't have been injured critically. There was nothing to be worried about.

_But still…I would have been worried of I felt that he was in pain. But that's just it._

_I don't _**feel**_ anything._

He stopped outside Watari's lab, catching his breath, before he opened the door.

And stared.

The once white walls of Watari's lab were now an even shade of charcoal black and, well, one wall, the one that was facing the out side of the building, was missing. It was like a scenic picture of the sakura orchard with a black frame. Tsuzuki, or Watari for the matter, were nowhere to be seen.

"Watari?" Hisoka called out, gingerly stepping inside whatever remained of Watari's lab and looking around for any sign of the scientist. Broken glass tinkled as he stepped on them, and the air smelled of doughnuts. His doughnuts.

His stomach grumbled.

"If I carry on like this," Hisoka muttered to himself as he looked underneath a hospital bed, "I'm going to wind up like Tsuzuki."

He shuddered at the thought, and so banished all thoughts of food from his mind. There was still Tsuzuki to find.

A hoot reached his ears and he whirled around, and saw 003 soar in. Apparently, 003 was not present in the lab when it exploded. 003 landed on Hisoka's outstretched hand, and her head made a 360 degree check of the surroundings. Turning her head back in a counterclockwise motion, 003 took to the air once more and flew out of the newly enlarged window. A few seconds later, a soft hoot came from outside, and Hisoka hastened to see what 003 had discovered.

Debris littered the ground like giant black ants, for the bricks composing the outer wall had scattered and were covered with soot.

In the middle of this all lay a very black Watari, who seemed to have just regained his senses.

"Watari!" Hisoka called out to the scientist, who coughed feebly before standing up and making his way back to the lab, via the missing wall. Hisoka reached down and helped the scientist up.

"What happened?" Hisoka asked. Watari surveyed his formerly white lab and sighed.

"Accident." Watari said, taking his glasses off to wipe them clean, and leaving two, soot-free circles around his eyes, making it look like he was still wearing glasses. Hisoka almost smiled. When Watari talked, his teeth showed. And Hisoka was ready to bet that if Watari stood against the black walls, he'd be able to scare the wits out of anyone who passed by when he showed his pearly whites. But instead of smiling, Hisoka frowned. The panic that stirred in his stomach still did not go away.

"So where's Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked, addressing the sole concern in his mind. At this Watari paused from polishing his glasses, and appeared to be thinking very hard.

"I'm not sure." Watari said slowly, choosing his words with care. "He came in, you know, after I took the doughnut. I was supposed to use it in an experiment, however…"

"However what?"

"II was supposed to test my new maple syrup on the doughnut because it wasn't really the sweet kind—but naturally you should have known that already since it is your favorite kind of doughnut. Anyway, when Tsuzuki walked in and saw what I was doing, he kind of…leapt for it. Maybe he thought I was up to something again," Watari said, before adding hastily, "which I was not."

Hisoka gave him an incredulous stare.

"Okay, which I was," Watari said, quailing under Hisoka's glare before waving it off and continuing, "but that's not the point. Anyway, he leapt for it, and was successful in saving the doughnut, but he kinda didn't stop there, and crashed into my set-up."

"He what??"

"Crashed right into it, headfirst and everything. It's what caused the explosion." Watari said, his hands gesturing to emphasize his words. Hisoka, after hearing this, felt his worry double. Triple.

"Come to think of it," Watari said, glancing around, "where *is* Tsuzuki?"

Hisoka didn't answer. He didn't have to.

_I don't feel anything._

"Bon?" Watari said, looking at the silent boy.

_I don't feel anything._

"Hisoka?"

_I can't feel anything. Tsuzuki…Tsuzuki's not here._

He's not here.

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As it says in the first part, this is chapter is just a prologue, so naturally, this isn't just a one-shot kind of thing. I would really appreciate it if you would all tell me if want me to stop or not, so that I'd know if I should still continue this or just limit the readers to my friends.

Thanks.

-liquor chuffing knight


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